Automatic steering device for vehicles



R. DE FILIPPIS.

AUTOMATIC STEERING DEVICE FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.14.1919.

1 357,49 1 Patented Nov. 2, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

7 .wmfi M Y 4 w i J 46 4 7 W [@l l 4i WITNESSES a v a? g INVENTOI? d1 M ATTORNEYS R. DE FILIPPIS. AUTOMATIC STEERING DEVICE FOR VEHICLES.

Patented Nov. 2, 1920.

m 2 SHEETS$HEET 2.

n M. a cm U A D E L H N o n A c U P DI A WI M58858 MCMQM A TTORNEYS UNITED STATES, PATENT, orrlcng RAYMOND DE FILIPI PIS, OF BROOKLYN, NEW FORK.

Speoification of Letters Patent. V

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Patented Nov. 2, 1920.

Application filed August-14, 1919. Serial No. 317,802.

This invention relates to the control of.

vehicles with respect to the lateral steering thereof, and irrespective of whether such vehicles are adapted for use on land, in the sea, or in the air. The term vehicle therefore as used herein, except as specifically limited, is to be given its broad interpretation. I wish it to be understood also that while the improvement is designed primarily for use in connection with toy vehicles, it is not to be limited in practice to such devices.

Among'the objects of the present improvement isto provi e in connection with a steering member, such as a wheel or wheels, or

a rudder, a rotary actuator and a connectorbetween the actuator and the steering member, the actuator being provided with means to variably actuate the connector or a member associated with the connector to cause during the rotation of the actuator any desired control of the steering means either for a straight-away course or for the turning of the vehicle laterally in either'direction to any extent and thgoughout any desired period of time. I

Another object of the invention is to enable the operator to adjust the connector with facility in order to effect any desired control of the steering means.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a prac- 'tical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in whichlike reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section on the broken line 1-1 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on'the line- 2-2 of Fig. 1, the principal parts being in Ian and with the steeringmeans in position or straight-away operatlon.

Fig. 3 is a view corresponding to Fig. 2 with the connector having the same adjustment as in Fig. 2 but with the actuator by virtue of its automatic action imparting. a momentary right turn to the steering means.

F 1g. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional detail of the connector on the line 4 1 of ig. 5 is a vertical transverse section on the line 5--5 of Fig. 1.

Fig.6 is a plan view of a modification of the invention applied to a boat or airship.

F i 7 is an enlarged sectional detail on the hue 7-7 of Fig. 6. I Fi 8 is a plan new with parts in section showing another modification with the application of my improvement to a frictional driving means for a vehicle; and

Fig. 9 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8.

Referring now more specifically to 'the first set of figures I show my invention applied to a wheeled vehicle comprisin a body or frame 10, front wheels 11, rear w eels 12, a front axle 13 held rigidly'to the body by uprights 14 and having steeringknuckles 15 jointed at 16 to the ends of the axle similar to the usual automobile practice, and a rear driving axle 17 adapted to be driven by any suitable motor not shown, or the vehicle may beotherwise propelled or driven, but W1l3h which power or driving means I am not particularly concerned in this instance.

'Suflice it to say, however, that the front and rear axles 13 and 17 are maintained substantially parallel to each other at all times. A reach rod 18 is located just back of the front axle and approximately parallel thereto and has its ends pivotally connected at 19 to the knuckles 15. v

The connector above referred to in one of Li earner As far as thus described the steering knuckles are free to turn around their vertical pivots 16- and the connector is likewise free to turn around its vertical pivotpin 21.

The automatic actuator in this form of the.

rality of grooves 31, 32 and 33 formed in the" upper face of the disk and having, generally speaking, a concentric arrangement with respect to the axis 28. The groove 31 is sinuous throughout its circumferential extent, being composed of a succession of bends in'radial directions. The next groove 32 comprises one or more arc shaped portions 32 concentric with the axis .28, shown herein as two in number and approximately semi-circular in extent, but the adjacent ends of these two semi-circles are connected by short radial bends 32. The third groove 33 is a true circle.

Any suitable means may be provided to operate the actuator coincidentally with the running'of the vehicle and at any desired s eed relativeto that of the vehicle. To t is end I show the periphery of the bottom of the actuator provided with gear teeth 34 meshing with a'spur gear 35 carried by an axle 36 mounted in the frame 30 constituting apart thereof. The gear 35 includes also a sprocket gear 37 which cotiperates with the sprocket chain 38 running over a small sprocket wheel 39 on the driving axle 17. The design of these gears is such that the actuator will be rotated at a relatively low speed.

The connecting means between the actuator disk and the connector consist essentially of a rod 40 which may be termed hereinafter an adjuster. The adjuster is pivoted at one'end 41 on the pin 21 and has at its rear end a finger or hook 42 coiiperatmg with the actuator as by projecting into one of the grooves aforesaid. Between its ends the adjuster is provided with a rigid finger 43 projecting downward into any selected one of a series of holes 44 formed in an are shaped rear end portion 45 of the connector 20. The adjuster having constantconnection at the end 41 with the pin 21 and being adapted to be adjusted laterally across the face of the disk and around the pin 21 as a center, the holes 44 are arranged in an arc of a circle whose center together for unitary movement.

I is Withthe hook 42 projected into any one of the grooves 31, 32' or 33 and at either side of the center. 28, the adjuster will be held from oscillation around the center pin 21, subject to the variation in form of the grooves, and so with the jection of the finger 43 into one of the holes 44 the adjuster and connector are locked Now, therefore, with the rotation of the actuator 15 as will be appreciated from Figs. 2 and 3 i the hook portion of the adjuster will maintain a constant distance from the pivot of the connector and will be maintained in the groove into which it is adjusted either 3 by its own resiliency or in connection with a spring 46 surrounding the pin 21 and located between the head 41 6f the adjuster and the head at the upper end of the pin. Therefore any lateral or'radial variation in the form of the groove in which the hook is located will cause a corresponding turning or oscillation of the connector around its pivot 21, and with respect to the groove 31 which is made up of the continued succes 9e sionof relatively short lateral bends the vehic'le will be steered so asto make corresponding right or left turns in succession. lVhen the adjuster is located in the groove 7 32 the finger 43 will-beprojected into the 5 next hole 44 of the series and with the hook in the concentric portion 3 2 the steering members or wheelsll'will be directed forward or straight-away. When the actuator.

has rotated sufiiciently to bring the hook42 into one'of the bends 32 the first effect will be to cause the vehicle tobe steered toward the right and by proper design or timing of the shape and speed of the actuator this initial turn amounts preferably to a steering of the vehicle 180 degreeswhereby it is caused to travel first a strai ht course and then make a half turn and then return along a straight course parallel to the outward straight course; The second half of no side of "the center of the connector for several reasons among which are: First, to afford the child more interest and experience in the manipulation of the mechanlsm and studying its behavior, and secondly by the application of the adjuster to theopposite side of the center 28 of the actuator, what in one case would cause a right turn would in the other case cause a left turn vehlcle.

In Figs. 6 and 7 the steering means is a rudder 11, the actuator. is the disk 27 the same as shown in the first figures and having similar grooves for coiiperation with the adj uster 40'. The connector 20 is a lever connected to or forming a part of the rudder and pivoted for oscillation around afvertical axis 21' in a bearing 22' having braces 30 .to the deck or other portion of the vehicle 10'. The member correspondin to the arcshaped rear end 45 above descri ed, is abar .45 rigidly connected to the rear end of the connector 20 and having a series of lugs 44 formed along one side thereof, as for example the top side as shown. The front end or the head. The rear end of the adjuster oooperates with the grooves in the manner above described and serves also to hold the adjuster in its locked position with respect to the bar 45 in practice.- To change the adjustment the, operator springs downward on the middle portion of the adjuster so as to cause the head thereof to clear the lug and permit it to be slipped to another lug while the hooked end of the adjuster is placed into another groove. The adjuster is rigid enough, however, to effect the desired automatic lateral adjustments of the steering means.

in the modification of Figs. 8 and 91 show my improvement in connection with a front Wheel driving vehicle, although other driving means may be employed auxiliary to the power devices indicated. lnthis form of the invention the front wheels 11* instead of being mounted on steering knuckles as in Figs. 2 and 8 are journaled on a rigid axle l3, and hence are always parallel to the line of movement. Each of these wheels is provided with a friction face 49 with which cooperates a friction wheel 50 mounted on a vertical axis 51 carried by a support 22". These wheels 50 have constant contact with the friction faces 49 and are driven simultaneously from any suitable motor 52, or its equivalent, through a shaft 53 and earing such as a worm 54 and worm wheel 55, the latter being mounted slidably on a shaft 56 parallel to the axle 13. To the ends of this shaft 56 are fixed friction wheels 57 cooperating respectively with the Wheels 50 and normally atthe same distances from the centers 51 thereof, Fixed to the shaft 56 near its ends are a pair of collars 58 withwhich yokes 59 cobperate, the yokes being connected by a'reach rod 18. always parallel with the axle 56. The connector 20 is pivoted at 21 on the support 22,

of the and at its front end has in and slot connection 23' with the reac rod. The rear end ortion 45 of the connectoris the same as escribed in connection with the first modification, the same having an arc shaped series of holes 44 formed therein, the series being concentric with the'pivot 21?. The actuator is or may be the same as-in Figs. 1 and 2 and is shown as having asimilarform of adjuster 4O with the connector. As already described. this actuator may be driven through a sprocket chain on "the real-axle,

not shown. a

Assuming that the vehicle is operating toward the left in Fig, 8 driven by the front wheels alone or in connection with any other suitable driving means, the friction, gears' aredriven as indicated by the. arrows and if the wheels 57 are midway between the pivots 51 the wheels 49 will be driven at the same speed a nd being of the same diameter the vehicle will not be guided or steered laterally. /Vhen, however, the actuator through the adjuster and connector causes the shifting of the reach rod andyokes laterally the axle 56 will likewise be shifted through the hub 16 of the worm gear 55 so as to bring one of the wheels 57 nearer to and the other farther from its adjacent pivot support 51.

a toy this form of the invention is especially useful not only for amusement but for its educational properties in teaching a boy or girl' the mechanics of frictional driving means as well as the many other features involved in its construction. These devices in the several forms indicated and others that have been made within the spirit of the invention is of a practical nature and may be manufactured at a relatively low cost, and in practice is both serviceable and attractive,

I claim:

1. In an automatic steering device, the combination with a vehicle having steering means movable laterally, an actuator having a plurality of grooves of varying "ra dii, means to rotate the actuator around an axis, aconnector coiiperating with the steering, means, and an adjuster adj ustably connected with the connector and coiiperating with any selected one of the actuator grooves whereby when the actuator is rotated the steering means-will be given a lateral oscillation to cause the vehicle to turn to the right or left.

Nil

2. In a device of the character set forth,

with respect to the connector and operating therewith as a rigid member after adjustment, and variable and selective driving connections between the actuator and the adjuster.

3. The combination with a vehicle, of

steering means therefor, a connector attached to the steering means, said connector comprising a lever pivoted between its ends on a fixed pivot and the attachment means between the same and the steering means including a link, an actuator, an adjuster adjustably connected to the connector and cooperating therewith as asingle rigid memher after adjustment, and variable and se lective driving connections between the actuator and the adjuster.

l. lhe combination with a vehicle, of

steering means therefor, a connector, means to connect the connector to the steeringmeans, a disk-shaped actuator, means to rotate the actuator in accordance with the movementof the vehicle, an adjuster comprising along rigidmember having interlocking cooperation with the connector and acting therewith as'a singlerigid member I after adjustment, and variable and selective driving connections between the actuator and the adjuster. v j V 5. The combination with a vehicle, of steering means therefor, a connector comprising a pivoted 'slever having-a laterallyproj ecting end, pivoted meansv attaching the opposite end of the connector to the steering means, an actuator, means to move the actuator in accordance with'the movement of the vehicle, an adjuster comprising a rigid member pivoted'to move around the same pivot as the connector and havingadjustable interlocking connection with the laterally projecting end ofthe connector whereby the adjuster and connector operate after adjustment as a single rigid member,

and selective driving connections between the actuator and the adjuster.

6. in a device of the class set forth, the combination with, a steering member for a vehicle and driving means for the vehicle, of automatic steering means comprising a rotatable disk having formed on one face a pluraity of independent endless grooves surrounding the axis of the disk and each tween the disk and the steering member,

said connecting members having adjustable interlocking connection with one another so 7 as to act as a unitary rigid member after adjustment, and'one of said members having an end engageable selectively in any one of said endless forth.

RAYMOND DE rinirris.

grooves, substantially as set 

